Although not in the Wikimedia Foundation’s favor, the ruling “does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State [for Science, Innovation and Technology] a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia’s operations,” the court said.
“While the decision does not provide the immediate legal protections for Wikipedia that we hoped for, the Court’s ruling emphasized the responsibility of Ofcom and the U.K. government to ensure Wikipedia is protected as the OSA is implemented,” said Phil Bradley-Schmieg, lead counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation.
“The Foundation will seek solutions to protect Wikipedia and the rights of its users as the OSA continues to be implemented,” he added.
Ofcom said in June it was closely monitoring the legal challenge and would publish its register of categorized services “as soon as possible thereafter,” having initially planned to do so this summer.